Hessel Beach Landscaping Is Goal of Volunteer Crew
By Amy Polk

Niklas Lezzi of Columbus, Ohio, 6, washes his hands after picking large rocks out of the soil at the Friday, June 29, Hessel Beach cleanup. He and his mother and brother, Stacey and Brendan Lezzi, came out to help with the effort while they were visiting the area for the summer. The Lezzis have family in the Les Cheneaux Islands.

Fifteen volunteers worked until the sun dipped low in the sky behind Hessel Beach Friday night, June 29. Starting at 6:30 p.m., the crew planted a new lawn, picked rocks out of the soil and sand, built flower beds, and planted flowers around the public beach and restrooms.

Their work is making a shoreline known for its striking views of the sunsets more pleasant for visitors and the residents who use the area. More landscaping is planned for the grounds, and the volunteers hope to establish shaded seating to protect beach-goers from the bright sun. This group and any other volunteers will meet Monday, July 16, at 6 p.m. at the beach.

"We're trying to make this a more user-friendly beach, to make it nice for people to swim at," said Gail Dreisbach, the Hessel Marina harbormaster who teamed up with Bud Mathews to organize the Friday work bee.

Nancy Burke (left) and Nancy Fenlon, both Hessel residents, plant flowers grown and donated by the Chippewa Correctional Facility in Kinross during the Friday, June 29, beach cleanup in Hessel, while Bud Mathews brings loads of topsoil into the park area.

Mr. Mathews is a Hessel excavator, and donated equipment, time, and materials to the project in addition to rounding up help. Goose Windsor of Les Cheneaux Dock and Dredge in Hessel also contributed time and equipment.

"It was just incredible how hard people worked last night, and we had fun," said an enthusiastic Mr. Mathews at the Clark Township Annual Meeting the next day.

He encouraged people to share their ideas with the workers and Clark Township board. There is a lot of potential for creative land use, gardens, and other improvements, he said, pointing to a large, overgrown, rocky area that rims the beach at the edge of the mainland.

"There's enough land there and plenty of room there for rock gardens or anything people can imagine in that space," he said. "That beach just has unbelievable potential for landscaping."

He and Mrs. Dreisbach were encouraged by individual donations like topsoil, asphalt mix, flowers from the Chippewa Correctional Facility in Kinross, and cash. Other materials are needed, and donors may contact Mrs. Dreisbach or Mr. Mathews to find out what they need.

Suggestions for future work include removing large rocks from the sandy beach area, plantings, water pump improvements or repair, adding more sand, building a deck area, a "no camp fire" sign, and reducing the speed on Lake Street near the beach.

"Everyone is open to suggestions, and we want people to have a part in this," Mrs. Dreisbach said.

Nancy and Ailbe Burke, whose home is close to the beach, are establishing a schedule to keep the lawn area and flower beds watered. Anyone who wants to help maintain the plantings may contact them.

Donations toward the beach project can be dropped off at Hessel Municipal Marina, or mailed to Clark Township Hall, P.O. Box 367, Cedarville, Michigan 49719.